Simone tops up her glass. ‘He probably went for a walk to clear his head. He’s like a child. He’ll be back in time for supper.’
But when Maria calls us through at eight, Felix is still not back.
‘D’you think we should phone the police and report him missing?’ I ask, eyeing his empty place setting at the head of the table.
‘What?’ Simone laughs. ‘Of course not. He’ll turn up. Not that there are any police on Pelagia anyway,’ she adds.
‘No police?’ I can’t hide my dismay. ‘What happens when someone breaks the law?’
‘No one ever does,’ Simone says simply.
‘But what if something’s happened to him? He could have tripped and fallen. It’s been forty degrees out there today. Surely we should at least go out and look for him?’
Willow looks up from her phone. ‘Much as I hate to agree with Simone, she’s right. Dad often goes walkabout when his head’s a mess.’
‘He’ll be drinking himself into a stupor in a bar in Thalassia,’ Barney says bitterly. ‘Too much of a coward to face up to what he’s done with my money.’
‘That’s enough!’ Victoria snaps. ‘And it’smymoney, not yours.’
‘Don’t we know it,’ Barney mutters under his breath.
I try to picture Felix in a bar in the pretty harbour town, a glass in his hand as he drowns his sorrows with a bottle of ouzo. But it’s like trying to fix the pieces of two different jigsaws together. It just doesn’t sit right. Then something else occurs to me.
‘If there are no police on the island, how are we going to report the thefts?’
‘Thefts?’ Simone asks.
‘Your earrings, Felix’s watch. My amber necklace.’
Dominic places a hand on my arm. ‘We’re still not sure they were stolen, angel.’
I gape at him. ‘You were the one who said they had been, and that’s why Simone’s necklace was in our bed.’
Victoria drops her bread knife onto the table with a clatter. Willow’s eyebrows shoot up so high they disappear under her fringe. Even Barney looks up from his plate of pitta bread and hummus. But my eyes are fixed on Simone. For the first time since we arrived on Pelagia, she seems ruffled. The question is, why?
The conversation moves on, the others talking and drinking as if nothing’s wrong, as if Felix might stroll back in at any moment with a sheepish grin and a fistful of excuses.
Maybe he will. But deep down, I doubt it.
43
AMBER
The air smells of coffee and sun cream at breakfast the next morning. As usual, Maria’s laid out a spread fit for a king. Bowls of creamy Greek yoghurt and jewel-like berries, baskets of fresh rolls and pastries, tubs of muesli and granola and jugs of fresh orange juice and honey.
‘Would you like a coffee?’ the housekeeper calls from the kitchen. She is slicing cucumbers with a gleaming chef’s knife and I motion her to keep going. I still can’t get used to being waited on hand and foot.
‘That’s so kind, Maria, but you’re busy. I can get it.’
I pour myself a cup and wander out onto the terrace. It’s another stunning day, the sky a fierce cobalt blue, the sun already blisteringly hot. Even though it’s a Sunday, the thrum of cicadas is drowned out by the sound of the digger on the building site below.
Felix will be livid, I think automatically. They’re probably working just to annoy him. But a quick head count confirms what I’d suspected last night. Felix isn’t here. I look around at the rest of them, each glued to their phone, as if they’ve run out of things to say to each other. Doesn’t anyone think his disappearing act is strange? Doesn’t anyonecare?
I bite my tongue. I don’t want to be accused of overreacting. He’s probably having a lie-in or is in his office catching up on emails. Instead, I help myself to Greek yoghurt and berries and sit next to Willow, who’s scrolling mindlessly through cat videos on TikTok as she makes a dent in a huge plate of fresh fruit.
‘What’s the plan for today?’ I ask brightly.
Willow shrugs. Barney and Victoria don’t even look up from their phones. Dominic, who crept out of the room just before six to go for a run and is still in his shorts and vest top, looks to Simone for a cue.
